Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw

60 reviews

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

spadedigsbutts's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

A book that was fun to read for the visual language and descriptions, but was much weaker elsewhere. 

The main conflict is essentially a dysfunctional friend group's issues being exacerbated by a ghost haunting when they were already at the breaking point. Like in most horror media, the cast is pretty unlikable and are mainly defined by their relations to each other, without much nuance independently. This is a normal convention for this scenario in the horror genre, but I wish characters had more arcs or at least more detailed interpersonal relations than "x slept with x once" as the few details we do get just don't have much payoff in the book.
Most characters feel like they start and end the same, which may partially be the point considering it's a super toxic friend group, but it does leave you up in the air when it just comes to an end without much of a huge conclusion. If you read it hoping for some sort of character resolutions, you won't get it.

If you came for a cool japanese influenced haunted house story where interpersonal relationships come to a tragic head, you unfortunately really don't get that. I wish we'd had more time to develop things in the book as while the writing style is lush and detailed, the actual set elements and characters are flimsy. A good read for a bus ride or waiting at a doctor's office, but not much out. I doubt I'll ever reread it.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Chronic illness, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Confinement and Misogyny

traa's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Biphobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

rroseking's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I listened to this on a long road trip. I thought it was good. I know a lot of people love it. I thought the build up to the big scary was great but then felt like it spiraled a bit after the big reveals. I feel it's short length worked against it a bit in that regard. Great for a quick read or road trip. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, and Vomit

goose's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Read in one sitting. Not for the faint of heart or stomach, this books is naaaasty. The prose was excellent, it has like a tangible ick or grit or something, I can't explain it. Story was ok, got a little tired of how often Phillip's looks were regaled all the time. Like, I know exactly how he looks but I have no idea what the main character looks like.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Murder

Moderate: Excrement and Vomit

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

marleens's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Great haunted house vibes, I would have loved to spend a lot more time wandering through the house, but this being a novella everything was cut short a bit. I think the character work was done well for such a short book and I like liked the literary style of writing. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I knew more about Japanese mythology. I did stop a few times to google certain words or concepts and that helped me understand a bit more what we were seeing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Blood, and Vomit

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

pizzaisjesus98's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny informative mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Excrement, Vomit, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Confinement, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Fire/Fire injury

kurumipanda's review

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Standard horror movie setup (5 twenty-somethings with interpersonal drama go to a haunted house), in a great atmospheric setting, with a focus on detailed imagery and character descriptions over action. Decent scene and character setup at the start, evocative imagery but far too much purple prose and arguing, a few excellent spooky moments, a fantastic genre savvy line, and action that stalled out as soon as it started. Audiobook has incorrect Japanese pronunciations, which may be mostly intentional. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Mental illness, Sexual content, Vomit, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Infidelity

cursivewolf's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The visuals were so perfectly horror-esque. Elegant but dirty and got under your skin. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit and Fire/Fire injury

ilaxaria's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual content and Suicide attempt

Minor: Vomit